Seashore Commercial Services Plan Completed And Moratorium on Commercial Services Permits Ends

Date: November 14, 2008
Contact: Wouter Ketel, 252-728-2250 ext. 3005

Harkers Island, NC  –  Superintendent Russel J. Wilson announced that the Commercial Services Plan (CSP) for Cape Lookout National Seashore, in progress since 2006, is complete. The CSP, developed with input from public meetings, defines the type of commercial activities and services that are appropriate for the seashore. A copy of the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the CSP is available at the park headquarters. 

Effective immediately, the moratorium on new permits to conduct commercial services within the seashore, in effect since 2004, is rescinded.  The seashore will again accept new Commercial Use Authorization Permit (CUA) applications to conduct ferry transport services, new guide services and for other new commercial uses.   

Superintendent Wilson noted that Chapter 36, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 5 requires that all persons conducting commercial activities within the seashore obtain an authorization from the National Park Service. Applications for CUA permits to provide commercial services within the seashore can be obtained at the park headquarters on Harkers Island, or by calling Lynn Winstead at 252-728-2250, extension 3018. These applications will be evaluated to ensure that the proposed commercial activities are appropriate and consistent with the newly completed CSP.

Superintendent Wilson cautions all applicants for ferry services that, pursuant to the CSP, the park intends to formalize ferry services under concession contracts within the next two to three years in order to provide improved and more efficient services to the public. The National Park Service has determined that ferry services from locations such as Morehead City/Beaufort, Harkers Island and Ocracoke, North Carolina, will be awarded as contracts under the concessions competitive process, involving a prospectus for services, proposals from interested parties and selection by an impartial panel.

Those that have questions about the CSP, the CUA permit application procedure and future contracting for ferry services, should contact the park Business Manager Richard Huffman, at 252-728-2250 extension 3019.